1998 Civic LX Sedan

[h22apwrd94]

I figured I would throw up a build thread, seeing as how you guys are starting to enjoy us around here. Long story short, I have been screwing with Hondas for way too long. I originally had a 95 Prelude Si/VTEC. I sold the rolling shell and kept my H22 that I had done some work on. The next plan involved building an H2B setup in a 94 civic EX coupe. I got quite a ways on that, but in the middle of that, I had a child that was born early and spent 65 days in the NICU and that sidetracked plans for quite a while. I took a little time off from the car thing, but never lost my passion for it. Bought a house, moved my shit in the garage, and finally got to work. I didn't completely abandon the H2B setup right away, but as I got further and further into my commitment to build a fast track car, the H2B was providing more and more limitations that would involve serious amounts of custom work that would push the budget out of the realm of reasonable to get it on the road before the end of 2011. Enter some wayward thoughts and a chassis that just came out of nowhere. Here are some pictures of where the coupe started, and where it sits now. Also some pictures of what I eventually decided as the better way to go.

How I found my original Civic.

http://i261.photobucket.com/albums/ii48/h22apwrd94/94%20ex/lost%20and%20found/74238498949.jpg

http://i261.photobucket.com/albums/ii48/h22apwrd94/94%20ex/lost%20and%20found/74238310021.jpg

http://i261.photobucket.com/albums/ii48/h22apwrd94/94%20ex/lost%20and%20found/74238343429.jpg

Where it went from there.

http://i261.photobucket.com/albums/ii48/h22apwrd94/94%20ex/bodywork/ea5fcabe.jpg

http://i261.photobucket.com/albums/ii48/h22apwrd94/94%20ex/bodywork/ea5fcac1.jpg

http://i261.photobucket.com/albums/ii48/h22apwrd94/94%20ex/bodywork/Picture143.jpg

http://i261.photobucket.com/albums/ii48/h22apwrd94/94%20ex/bodywork/Picture147.jpg

Went Championship White for a great factory color from the Honda racing hybrid of the Type-R, and it looks like it is a stock vehicle

http://i261.photobucket.com/albums/ii48/h22apwrd94/94%20ex/paint/Picture040.jpg

http://i261.photobucket.com/albums/ii48/h22apwrd94/94%20ex/paint/Picture106.jpg

Ended up with a set of oil rings that did not seat, and that was about the time I benched it for almost two years. But I still kept collecting parts.

http://i261.photobucket.com/albums/ii48/h22apwrd94/94%20ex/sidemoldingshippingdamage001.jpg

[h22apwrd94]

A buddy of mine had a 1998 Civic LX Sedan out in PA that he had put over 200K miles on since he had bought it 4 years earlier. He was purchasing a new 2011 sedan for work, and they were not going to give him anything in trade for the car, so I bought a one way ticket, and went and picked up what I thought was going to be a daily driver. It barely limped its way back home, having a few issues along the 900+ mile drive. By the time I got it home, it was running on pretty much one cylinder. Compression across the board was 120-60-30-60. It was on its last leg, burning at least a quart every 1500 miles, but still getting close to 35mpg, which thoroughly amazed me. Finally the poor little D16Y7 started its last time, and it was time to look for something else to make it a little more peppy and fun in a daily driver role. I came across a relatively cheap B18 LS engine, and since I have transmissions growing out my ass it seems (I do side work on Honda transmissions), I mated it to a GSR transmission, and put it in the car. Along with the swap, I put a nice set of aftermarket mounts, proper bracket to keep my A/C and power steering, and put on a stock exhaust system (I enjoyed the quiet). I also came up with some decent suspension parts and a set or rear discs for a good price. Full body coilovers, SS brake lines, ES bushing set, adjustable uppers front and rear, and a good alignment and it made for a great daily driver for almost a year. Then I got a little crazy...

http://i261.photobucket.com/albums/ii48/h22apwrd94/2010-09-22094520.jpg

http://i261.photobucket.com/albums/ii48/h22apwrd94/2011-04-12190311.jpg

Found some factory taillights for cheap, and straightened out the trunk lid a little bit

http://i261.photobucket.com/albums/ii48/h22apwrd94/2011-07-08150605.jpg

[h22apwrd94]

I started putting my thoughts to material with the manifold early in the summer. I used waste pipe to fab it up, as it is the same bend radius and size. After I got a good layout put together, I got together with Joe from 515 Customs and made it work.

http://i261.photobucket.com/albums/ii48/h22apwrd94/2011-06-23210757.jpg

http://i261.photobucket.com/albums/ii48/h22apwrd94/2011-06-23215310.jpg

http://i261.photobucket.com/albums/ii48/h22apwrd94/2011-07-23183359.jpg

http://i261.photobucket.com/albums/ii48/h22apwrd94/2011-07-23183413.jpg

http://i261.photobucket.com/albums/ii48/h22apwrd94/2011-07-23183431.jpg

http://i261.photobucket.com/albums/ii48/h22apwrd94/2011-07-23210042.jpg

http://i261.photobucket.com/albums/ii48/h22apwrd94/2011-07-23210108.jpg

http://i261.photobucket.com/albums/ii48/h22apwrd94/2011-07-23210119.jpg

http://i261.photobucket.com/albums/ii48/h22apwrd94/2011-07-23210242.jpg

http://i261.photobucket.com/albums/ii48/h22apwrd94/2011-07-23210251.jpg

http://i261.photobucket.com/albums/ii48/h22apwrd94/2011-07-23210307.jpg

[Drifte]

So what happened to the white car? I liked it.

[AutoMods]

nice to see your build thread on here

[h22apwrd94]

So what happened to the white car? I liked it.

The white car is still in the garage. It is getting a stock LS in it with A/C and power steering and should end up as a nice daily. Just have a lot of work to do to get it there, as it is still completely torn apart. I really like the car, just I questioned it as a drag car with the previous damage. Was not sure how straight it was even though I paid a professional to fix it. My sedan had never been in an accident and tracked amazing at 130 on slicks. Kind of made my decision to stay with it a no brainer.

[sparkles]

Plus you can get the kid to daycare in a hurry with the sedan.

[h22apwrd94]

nice to see your build thread on here

Remember a desperate soul from Des Moines calling you for some locks for Wiseco pistons? Yeah, that was me. Sorry if I seemed a bit of a dick, it was a stressful time. Just had my second child and things were a bit crazy. It all worked out in the end though. I'll get some more of the build pictures up tonight.

[civicex_1134]

Seen this on another site..... Love the fab work!!!! Keep us updated

[AutoMods]

Remember a desperate soul from Des Moines calling you for some locks for Wiseco pistons? Yeah, that was me. Sorry if I seemed a bit of a dick, it was a stressful time. Just had my second child and things were a bit crazy. It all worked out in the end though. I'll get some more of the build pictures up tonight.

I remember slightly. Did i have your size in stock for you?

[h22apwrd94]

I remember slightly. Did i have your size in stock for you?

Yeah, you had them in stock. I actually called you on the phone and tried to come and pick them up from you. I ended up getting 6 sets just in case I ran into any problems.

[h22apwrd94]

When it finally came time to move forward with this project, I had set a deadline for myself. I had about 6 weeks until my second child was due, and I wanted to be done before he showed up. Needless to say, he showed up about 4 weeks early, and I was far from done. I had some help with some of my assembly work. While I was installing new valve seals and Skunk2 Pro series springs/retainers, my friends were measuring out the main bearings and checking clearances. I set my P2W to .0045, and ran my end gaps at .0022 and .0024 Compression is great, slap is extremely minimal, and no oil issues. I sold a bunch of my H2B stuff to fund this build, as I realized I had a ton of money sitting around in parts that I wasn't going to put to use anytime soon. It helped me get together the important parts for this build and is a solid mix of parts that will last through my current power/ET goals. From the date I tore the old setup out until I had the new setup in and running, it was 9 weeks.

Old setup
http://i261.photobucket.com/albums/ii48/h22apwrd94/2011-07-30154108.jpg

http://i261.photobucket.com/albums/ii48/h22apwrd94/2011-07-30190524.jpg

Then this guy showed up

http://i261.photobucket.com/albums/ii48/h22apwrd94/2011-08-06004711.jpg

Assembly

http://i261.photobucket.com/albums/ii48/h22apwrd94/2011-08-24195429.jpg

http://i261.photobucket.com/albums/ii48/h22apwrd94/2011-08-24213415.jpg

http://i261.photobucket.com/albums/ii48/h22apwrd94/2011-08-25175840.jpg

http://i261.photobucket.com/albums/ii48/h22apwrd94/2011-09-04143601.jpg

http://i261.photobucket.com/albums/ii48/h22apwrd94/2011-09-04144647.jpg

http://i261.photobucket.com/albums/ii48/h22apwrd94/2011-09-06221946.jpg

ECU for the setup

http://i261.photobucket.com/albums/ii48/h22apwrd94/2011-08-12131256.jpg

My oldest even wanted to get in on helping me. He keeps asking me when he gets daddy's race car.

http://i261.photobucket.com/albums/ii48/h22apwrd94/2011-09-23200126.jpg

By the end of that same night

http://i261.photobucket.com/albums/ii48/h22apwrd94/2011-09-24213038.jpg

Joe finished up his amazing work on the manifold, downpipe and dumptube, and also did the welding on my bungs on the valve cover

http://i261.photobucket.com/albums/ii48/h22apwrd94/2011-08-27153249.jpg

http://i261.photobucket.com/albums/ii48/h22apwrd94/2011-08-27153302.jpg

http://i261.photobucket.com/albums/ii48/h22apwrd94/2011-08-27153329.jpg

http://i261.photobucket.com/albums/ii48/h22apwrd94/2011-08-27153341.jpg

http://i261.photobucket.com/albums/ii48/h22apwrd94/2011-08-31203454.jpg

http://i261.photobucket.com/albums/ii48/h22apwrd94/2011-08-31203530.jpg

http://i261.photobucket.com/albums/ii48/h22apwrd94/2011-08-31203600.jpg

[civicex_1134]

i just blew my load........... god damn thats sick!

[h22apwrd94]

Just starting to do a little winter work on this thing. Need to get the Omnipower Drag suspension off of the white car and put it on the sedan. Basically going to just swap the coilover sets across the cars. Also looking for a manual steering rack out of a 96-98 Civic CX hatchback. While I have the car in the air, I will be pressing in new hubs from a DSS 3.9 axle setup, adding extended studs and new lower ball joints. I will be pulling off the manifold and sending it in for coating as well. Need to get the catch can setup in a permanent place. The boost control solenoid has wiring that needs to be added to the loom. I picked up a set of Avid Solid Billet mounts for it last month. Can't wait to get those in the car. Once spring gets here, I will get it back to Joe to get a full exhaust on it. Going to finish the exhaust out in 4" aluminum. Need to figure out a muffler, and will V-band it the rest of the way back. Make it a semi-quiet street car hopefully. Other than that, I will be hopping back on the dyno with it come spring to get the BBG setup dialed in, and clean up the drivability and see if she will make a little more power at the current boost level. The plan is to switch it over to Ignite 114 and thin it down to E85 for a more consistent fuel.

[Drifte]

Have the vibrant aluminum mufflers at work 3" 3.5" and 4".

[h22apwrd94]

Got to the track a few times already this early part of the year. Still working on the anti-lag settings, but slowly getting out of the hole better. I think I need to raise the launch limiter a little more. And work on my technique a little more. Here are some videos from friday night at Eddyville.

http://i261.photobucket.com/albums/ii48/h22apwrd94/th_HDV_0014.jpg (http://s261.photobucket.com/albums/ii48/h22apwrd94/?action=view&current=HDV_0014.mp4)

http://i261.photobucket.com/albums/ii48/h22apwrd94/th_HDV_0021.jpg (http://s261.photobucket.com/albums/ii48/h22apwrd94/?action=view&current=HDV_0021.mp4)

http://i261.photobucket.com/albums/ii48/h22apwrd94/th_HDV_0024.jpg (http://s261.photobucket.com/albums/ii48/h22apwrd94/?action=view&current=HDV_0024.mp4)

http://i261.photobucket.com/albums/ii48/h22apwrd94/th_HDV_0028.jpg (http://s261.photobucket.com/albums/ii48/h22apwrd94/?action=view&current=HDV_0028.mp4)